Airports up for grabs in economic crisis

At the moment the airports are managed by the official body AENA, or Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea. The United Kingdom privatised its airports many years ago and the Spanish company Ferrovial operates such key hubs as Heathrow.  In Spain, however, airports have remained firmly in the hands of the Madrid. Now, with the government looking around to raise more revenue to fight the economic downturn it seems as if that is about to change. The Prime Minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, announced this week a package of 21 measures aimed at getting the economy going again. Amongst these was the statement that a plan would be announced almost immediately to change the management model for the country’s airports.  Some of these airports, such as that at San Javier in Murcia, rely almost entirely on traffic from the United Kingdom and Northern Europe for their revenue. Of the two million passengers a year who flow through San Javier almost all are carried by low cost British airlines. The PM said that a new ownership model would see private sector participation in airport management significantly increased. Another important aspect of the announcement was that regional governments would be allowed to play a part in the management of AENA operated airports.

This has been a bone of contention for many years. In Murcia, operating hours at San Javier are severely restricted by the need to share facilities with the military base there.  AENA proved very reluctant in the past to improve facilities. Some cynics think this may have been because it wanted to protect revenue at its Alicante airport and had no interest, therefore, in making things better in Murcia. The Murcia regional government has now set out on its own and is building a brand new airport at Corvera, a little to the south of the regional capital, Murcia City. The airport his been designed in close consultation with budget airlines who have seen many of their suggestions incorporated into final plans.  On the ground construction is about to start and it is expected that in three years or so the first planes will be landing at Corvera – which will operate 24-hours a day and which will have a direct link to the fast-growing network of motorways and new roads in the region. The economic stimulus package announced this week included other initiatives, such as plans to cut by 30 per cent the number of public sector staff recruited in the coming year. Spain’s economic downturn is becoming ever more serious, the forecast economic growth rate is now only 2.7 per cent, unemployment has reached 9.6 per cent and inflation is put at 4.6 per cent.   The property sector has been hit particularly hard and the recent strike by lorry drivers and operators demonstrated how seriously high oil prices are affecting the economy.